Attempting to gather myself, I leaned against the statue of a giant coiled snake, its exposed fangs the size of my forearm. The thing was frightening, and I hoped Ophelia would keep her myth magic far away from it in case it was some legendary beast turned to stone.
Shivering and shuffling aside, I shifted my gaze to the path. Low clusters of cacti and stones carved walkways across the sand. In the heart of the labyrinth, the Alabath sisters exercisedtheir magic. Jezebel rolled her eyes, and Ophelia tipped her head back, laughing. The faint trickle that reached me made me smile.
Fucking Angels, what I wouldn’t do for that sound. When she was gone, my heart felt like it had been ripped right out of my chest. Now, the damn thing beat faster at just the sight of her.
She’d been hollow and tortured when she returned, but seeing her with her sister, actuallysmiling…it ripped me apart. Because for a moment, she was carefree, and all I wanted in this life was for her to be happy.
But also because so many threats hung on her shoulders. On all of ours, but specifically on hers.
Echnid wanted her.
No, he didn’t justwanther. He seemed torelyon her coming under his thumb. And that sort of motivation almost felt worse. It led to his desperate, depraved actions before, and if he tried to touch her again…
“Ophelia!” Jezebel called, laughing.
“I didn’t think it was going to work.” Ophelia’s amusement was clear from here, and curiosity had me sheathing my vitriol—burying all of those crushing emotions as deep as I possibly could—and jogging up the path to them.
“What’s going—Damien’s shining cock,” I spat, skidding to a stop. Ophelia and Jezebel turned to face me, smiling brightly. “Did you do that, Alabath?”
“Not intentionally,” Ophelia said with a shrug, turning back around to face the massive gryphon perched among the still-stone statues. The beast tipped its beak toward the sky and snapped at the air, eyes hazy as if it had truly just woken up. It was oddly adorable, which was never how I thought I’d refer to a creature I didn’t think fucking existed.
I strode forward, draping an arm around Ophelia’s shoulders. “You’re damn impressive, you know that,apeagna?”
Ophelia rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed, magenta irises bright with wonder as she gazed at the gryphon. It stood, spreading its wings and testing the wind. Then, it took a few earth-shaking strides and leapt into the air.
As it soared off, I mumbled, “I guess that’s one more myth woken.” The gryphon faded into the distance, heading north to Spirits knew where. As it went, the weight of the magic Ophelia wielded mystified me.
“Santorina isn’t with you?” I asked, having overheard them all talking about researching the mythos magic earlier.
Ophelia shook her head. “She had books about the gods pulled from the archives in the city.” A curious crease formed between her brows. Shrugging it off, she added, “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were busy with Malakai and Cypherion this morning.”
“I was, but Mali wanted to return to dote on Mila,” I explained.
“Didn’t Mila specifically tell him to go so he would stop doing that?” Jezebel asked, stuffing her feet back into her boots and lacing them up.
“I believe her exact words were, ‘if you don’t go with Tolek I’m going to strangle you with the bandages you keep trying to change,’” I said as Ophelia snickered.
Mila’s injury had healed quickly thanks to the healers in Xenovia. But when Mali started saying he should check on her, CK insisted he had to see Vale, too. I wasn’t sure if it was their new Fatesworn bond dragging him back or something else, but he’d been contemplative all morning. He’d even gone so far as to pick up a bouquet of desert marigolds on the way back to Meridat’s manor.
“So, why’d you come out here?” Ophelia asked as Jezebel disappeared back up the path. Her gaze dropped to the newdagger at my waist, her brow creasing briefly as she read the initials. Her eyes widened and flicked back to me.
I brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, toying with the end as nerves thickened in my throat. “I need your help with something.”
The Gatesof Angeldust in Xenovia were similar to the Lendelli Hills location. Large gleaming bars lined the entrance, topped with wings and sphinx busts looking down on us, and somewhere inside, springs babbled with spirit-laced water.
“Are you sure?” she asked softly, squeezing my hand when we approached the end of the pathway to the gallery.
I tried to say yes, but my voice stuck in my throat. Instead, I pressed my lips into a grim line and nodded once. Briefly taking my eyes off the doors, I lifted Ophelia’s hand and kissed it. Thank the fucking Angels she was here. I’d thought about doing this weeks ago, but I couldn’t get myself to without her.
“Let’s go, then,” she said. Sadness layered both her voice and her eyes, but she led me silently up the steps.
My body was numb as the doors opened, the grief of recent months slamming into me all at once.
I love you, baby brother, echoed through my empty mind and the weight of her lifeless body pressed against my chest, my arms. My skin heated with the memory of her blood as we crossed the foyer.
The statue in the center was Xenique, seated on a tall throne, her palms held out on either side of her and opened toward the sky. A sphinx reclined leisurely at her feet and a pool surrounded their forms.
We bowed, dipping our fingers in the cool water and anointing our palms as Erista had explained. It was something about honoring the Soulguider mission to escort spirits home, but truthfully I hadn’t absorbed a word she said. I’d been too wracked with nerves to really hear.
